Our lab’s mission is to pursue collaborative, rigorous, reproducible, and accessible science to enhance knowledge of:

  • Human movement and its awe-inspiring, dynamic complexity in neurotypical and neuro-divergent individuals
  • How the brain contributes to individual differences in sensory and motor engagement and changes during maturation, learning, and experience
  • How movement patterns influence an individual’s participation in meaningful activities (i.e., occupations)

La misión de nuestro laboratorio es realizar ciencia colaborativa, rigurosa, reproducible y accesible para mejorar el conocimiento de:

  • El movimiento humano y su impresionante complejidad dinámica en individuos neurotípicos y neuro-divergentes.
  • Cómo el cerebro contribuye a diferencias individuales en la participación sensorial y motora y en cambios durante la maduración, el aprendizaje y experiencia.
  • Cómo los patrones de movimiento influyen en la participación de un individuo en actividades significativas (es decir, ocupaciones).

Lab in the News

  • Prelims passed

    Monica Duran passed her initial prelims for the PhD portion of her MD-PhD program. She submitted the grant for this work in early March. She plans to look at brain correlates of the arousal network, …

  • Dr. Emily Skaletski and Dr. Brittany Travers in front of a dark, wood-paneled wall.

    Congratulations, Dr. Skaletski!

    Emily Skaletski successfully defended her dissertation on Monday, April 14 at the Waisman Center. Following graduation, she will continue her research career at Northwestern University with a Community Living & Participation Fellowship, funded by NIDILRR, …

  • Monica and Jacqueline standing in front of a podium. Screen behind them with images and text in Spanish

    Community presentation

    MD–PhD student, Monica Duran and undergraduate, Jacqueline Cano gave a presentation on research in the Motor and Brain Development Lab to a Spanish-speaking audience at the Catholic Multicultural Center early in the Spring 2025 semester. 

  • Monica and Olivia holding award certificates

    Two recent awards

    At the 2025 Gatlinburg Conference, Monica Duran and Olivia Surgent received two of six trainee awards of excellence. Monica received the David Zeaman Graduate Student Award, and Olivia was honored with the Theodore Tjossem Postdoctoral …

  • Brittany presents a flash talk at the State Capitol!

        Brittany recently went to the Wisconsin State Capitol to do an 8-minute flash talk on the lab’s different research areas. Interested in watching her talk? Visit this page and make a free account! …

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